f the "true Vine."

Reader, if you are asked, Do you obey the command, "Be not drunk with
wine," what is your answer? If it is, "Yes," that is obedience. Now, if
you are asked, Do you obey the command, "Be filled with the Spirit," what
is your answer? If it is, "No," that is disobedience; you are guilty of
breaking one of God's plainest commandments. You have no more license to
break _this_ command than you have to break any command in the Decalogue.
Before you read further, had you not better confess your sin, and tell
the Master that you purpose in your heart new obedience?

CHAPTER IV.

_SOMETHING DIFFERENT FROM THE NEW BIRTH._

This being "filled with the Spirit" is a definite blessing, quite distinct
from being "born of the Spirit." It is objected by some that every
Christian has the Spirit; quite true, for "if any man have not the Spirit
of Christ, he is none of his" (Rom. viii. 9); and "no man can say Jesus
is Lord, but in the Holy Spirit" (1 Cor. xii. 3); but to "have the Spirit"
and to be "filled with the Spirit" are two different things. "Egypt always
has the Nile," as some one has said, "but Egypt waits every year for its
overflow;" having the Nile is one thing, but having the Nile overflowing
is quite another. Now it is the Nile's overflow that is Egypt's salvation,
and to overflow it must first be filled. So it is the Christian's overflow
that is the world's salvation, and in order to the overflow there must
first be the filling.

As far as God is concerned, there is no reason why this filling should
not take place at the hour of conversion, of the new birth. See the case
of Cornelius and his friends, in Acts x. 44-48. They believed, were
saved, "received the Holy Ghost," and were baptized with water the same
day. But it were a fatal blunder to assert that _all_ men on believing
received the Holy Ghost in a similar manner, or were thus filled with the
Spirit. Most certainly in Bible times it was not so.

_1. Take the case of the Apostles themselves._

In Acts ii. 4 we read, "They were all filled with the Holy Spirit," all
in the upper room, men and women, including the twelve apostles. Now
these men had the Spirit before. When Christ called them to follow Him,
when they were converted, they received the Spirit. After His
resurrection, but before His ascension, Christ breathed on them and said,
"Receive ye the Holy Ghost" (John xx. 22), and of course they did
"receive" the Spirit then; but i